Anyone who thinks our education system is failing American kids should visit Nevada. Last year Nevada ranked dead-last in the nation for the second consecutive year with a graduation rate of just over 47 percent.
Let me repeat, and rephrase that, so everyone gets it: 53% of kids in Nevada DO NOT GRADUATE from high school.
Now, Nevada ranks near the bottom for spending on per-pupil K-12 education. So clearly we need to spend more money if we want better results. Right?
Wrong. Nevada has increased per-pupil funding since 1960 by 153% (in constant 2005 dollars; excluding construction and capital expenses). Over the same time period Nevada has seen its quality education system turn to failure. Patrick Gibbons of the Nevada Policy Research Institute blames the fall from grace on “a massive increase in per-pupil spending… with absolutely no accountability to parents and taxpayers.”
Washington D.C. spends twice as much as Nevada, per-pupil, and the graduation rate in our nation’s capital sits at 48.8 percent. Obviously money isn’t going to fix this problem. So what will?
The first thing we need to do is have an open and honest debate about what is, and is not, working. Too many times politics gets in the way, and the kids are the ones left to suffer. Recently the Nevada State Legislature agreed on a 6.9% cut in education. Immediately the outrage began. What was missing from most of the news stories? The fact that only 1/3 of the higher education funding in Nevada comes from the state’s general fund. If you consider that inconvenient truth, a 6.9% cut in state funding translates to just a 2.3% cut in overall funding for higher education in Nevada. In addition, the state legislature increased K-12 education funding in 2009 by 4.9% – meaning that even after these newest cuts, the K-12 education system will still have at least $135 million more than it did during the 2007-2009 session. This is just one example of how ideology gets in the way of reality. With the results we’re seeing out of the Nevada education system, isn’t it clear that at least some money is being wasted? Higher education has even worse results than K-12 education.UNLV boasts four-year and five-year graduation rates of 13.4% and 30.8% respectively. The rates at UNR are virtually identical.
In January 2009, Nevada University Chancellor Jim Rogers blamed parents for creating “this disaster of a public education system.” Rogers is quick to blame parents, but is he willing to give them the tools to take control of the situation? Nope. You won’t see Rogers advocating for tuition tax credits, vouchers or charter schools anytime soon.
Therefore, our next step should be to empower parents to make the best educational choices for their children. Parents make important decisions for their children daily, from what they eat and what they wear to what music they listen to and which TV shows they watch. Why can’t parents make the same choice when it comes to education? The reason is teachers unions. There is so much money involved in education that teachers unions can’t stand the thought that a public school may fail due to competition from a charter or empowerment school. These alternatives typically cost less and out-perform their public school counterparts. If nothing else, education reform including charter and empowerment schools, vouchers and tuition tax credits would create an atmosphere of competition within the public education system – forcing them to compete for each dollar and each student. When accountability exists, we may start to see some progress.
Solving this problem won’t be easy. We must consider all options, including splitting up the Clark County School District, which is the 5th largest school district in the U.S. Education is a serious issue, and it must be addressed by all Nevadans. Dan Hill, candidate for Nevada Assembly District 29, pointed out at our last Right Pride meeting that 87% of the Clark County School District’s operating budget is spent on employee compensation.
So who is REALLY upset about that 2% cut?
The views expressed in this blog are the author’s, and do not necessarily represent the views of Right Pride or GOProud.